3rd Birthday Finale

We wrapped up Kaleb's 3rd Birth-Week celebration this past weekend... good times were had by all I tell you!!  Good times :) Sheriff Woody had invited the gang (a small gang) over for some good old fashioned fun... the pictures pretty much sum it up.

 Shockingly, it was a balmy 65 degrees plus sunshine out :) 

 After, we grilled out- it was time to open presents...

 Enjoying the new table & chairs from Grandma and Grandpa while checking 

out the picture album of the horses and cows back at the ranch.  

 Lots of fun and great friends! 

Next up- cake! 

The 'Cow Cake' according to Kaleb...

 Sometimes when you're newly 3...the attention is just too much to take!

 Everyone should get in on the fun of candles :) 

 Then, back outside to break in the new sand toys from Uncle RyRy.  

 This is awesome!

 Heading inside- ah, good times!

 Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for coming up as well.  

Also for Uncle RyRy for taking the time to come hang out- you rock!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Kaleb!  We love you!!

Kaleb absolutely loved his party and has spent the last two days talking about it.  If you ask him about his party he'll say 'friends find my house'.  And, we've went through the list of everyone who was here and what we did and that there was a cow cake and presents and 'friends played sandbox'.... repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.  As a bonus, we had a snow day today (Monday) so we got to stretch out our weekend just a little bit more.  We were so excited to have a family snow day that we popped popcorn at 8am and watched Toy Story.  Life is good and its the little things that are the best :) 

Three!

This weekend,we've had an incredibly time celebrating Kaleb's 3rd birthday.  

It has been fun, fun, fun and all things Kaleb. 

 Friday morning, we started our with special birthday pancakes...

good ole pancakes with chocolate chips, redi-whip, sprinkles and candles too :)  

After devouring a near man-sized portion of pancakes, 

we got to Skype with Grandma & Grandpa!

 Which of course, led to present opening...

 Who knew you really could send a puppy in the mail :) 

 Birthday cards and then, they also sent a long a bag of change

 for Kaleb to add the pig for his little sister.  

 Then, suddenly... the door bell rang and the coolest birthday balloons ever arrived!!  

Thanks Auntie & Justin :) 

Being that he's now three, we put him right to work.  

Winter is never-ending this year so...we had him shovel off the deck.  

Start'm young right ;) 

Somewhere along the way, we also snuck in another Skype date 

with Auntie & Justin along with fun phone 

calls from Grandpa & Grandma Berry and the RJNANS too. 

Last night we rounded out the day with pizza, popcorn and a family movie night watching Toy Story.  Fun times indeed!!  Since the Roths are known for their slightly over the top observance of birthdays.... we continued the fun today (Sunday).  We slipped off to the early service at church this morning then took a 'little trip' as Kaleb called it- to our favorite family secret destination.  LOVE their pool, the squirting fountains and the pirate ship too of course.  Lots of fun and one of the best kept secrets around.... shhh, it was free!!  Maybe it had to do with this cute 3 year old we had along?? 

 We were home by 1pm...love that early church let us do church, swim for a few hours and still be home in time for a nap.  Post nap...Kaleb was super excited to help frost and decorate cupcakes for his friends at daycare.  The kid loves cupcakes.  LOVES Cupcakes! 

 I think he's liking this whole "3" thing. 

 So, of course we needed to try them out... nothing like cupcakes for a bedtime snack.  

 Oh, wait.  Did Kaleb catch Dad sneaking a SPOONFUL of chocolate frosting.  

Poor Dad, he thinks he's so tricky.  

Not so much... so, what's a good dad to do? 

 Why feed Kaleb his own spoonful of frosting.....oh, my goodness. 

Boys. What more is there to say. 

 Nothing washes down cupcakes like some nice cold milk. 

Wow, am I blessed by our little man. 

A full weekend indeed....and, the real party isn't even until next weekend! 

Yikes! 

Just so I don't forget... 

- You drank an entire quart of chocolate milk by yourself this weekend.  

- Current favorite song is:  "Mary had a ____________"  Most common answer is 'little train' other favorites include little duck, little cow, little duck.  

- You can now change your own shirt easily.... easily at least 5 times a day if you can get that many 'dirty'.  

- Still LOVE oatmeal and would eat it 3x a day if we'd let you. 

- Is totally loving his new big blue bed.  

- Thinks that Bubble Guppies can solve anything.  

- Still loves our nightly tickle wars, apple juice and the infamous line of 'maybe _______?' whenever he's wanting to make a suggestion.  

- Has now taken up asking for his own coffee each morning when we stop to pick up "Mama's coffee".  He then says "Kaleb coffee?"... oh, my.  Please stop growing up so fast.  

Love you lots and lots and lots and lots and lots our Kaleb- 

so incredibly blessed by how God has brought us all together.  

Winner, winner.... Chicken (alfredo?) Dinner

We would like to send out a big round of HUGE, super amazing THANK YOU's to everyone who participated in the March Madness fundraiser!  You are all such an encouragement and blessing- you have no idea :)  This afternoon, I had a little time to pull together our drawing for everyone who participated and shared our link on Facebook.  And, the winner of $25 in Olive Garden awesomeness is..... 

Which means that Kristin Rush.... you're our winner!  

Thanks soooo much to you AND to everyone else to took part.  

Good luck with those brackets this weekend...yikes, there have been some upsets!  

Good News!

Our FBI Background checks came back today!!  What a praise!  Our social worker has our home study done except for a a little bit of info from us and then our home study will be complete.  Sooo excited to check this big step off the list to meeting our daughter.  Next week our home study will start the process of being review by our agency.  Next prayer request... that they're able to review it quickly yet very thoroughly. Praise the Lord for a day of progress :)  Thanks to everyone for their many prayers.  Also- thank you, thank you for donating to our bracket fundraiser!  What a blessing you all are!! 

Slam Dunk for Adoption

Help us score a slam dunk for our adoption!  

Want to take part in a fun, easy way to support our adoption?  Join our March Madness fundraiser- its simple, easy and its more about helping bring home the next little Roth than it is about being a basketball expert.  Here's how it works.... 

1. Donate $10 to our adoption fund.  Just follow this link at the top of this page to our Paypal account.  You can pay directly from your bank account or with a credit/debit card.  Its simple and easy!  Or if you'd rather, send us a check- email us at urmyiloveu  at  g mail dot com .   Once you've donated, we'll let you in on our March Madness bracket.  The email link to our bracket league will be emailed to you.  Simply click to fill in your teams and you're set.  At the end of March Madness, the winner will receive a goody basket valued at over $100.  Details will be listed on the league website.  

2.  Share, share, Share, SHARE!  Donate then share our FB status update and we'll enter your name into a drawing for a $25 Olive Garden gift card and a box of Kim's homemade chocolate chip cookies.  Each person who donates $10 will get their name in this drawing and then if you also share our FB link, we'll enter your name in the drawing a second time.   Think date night dinner for two with those amazing Olive Garden bread sticks and loads of creamy fettucine sauce!  Donate then share to increase your odds :) 

Not a basketball expert...no worries, neither am I!  Donate then share with as many people you know!  Our goal.... is to fund one of our country fees.  This will get our name on the list making us 'eligible' to be matched with a little girl in China.  

We can't wait.... so sign up today!  Its fun, easy and will make a huge impact in our journey to welcome home another little one.  Thank you so much!!  

Go God!

This has been a great week- we've watched God's provision in lots of little and big ways.  This week involved getting our physicals updated.  Kaleb was sick with a stomach bug but thankfully by Friday afternoon, he was better and we got his physical completed.  Afterwards, I needed to return a few things to Target.  A few things didn't fit and another I had decided I could do without.  So- I returned them.  Then, against my will and while my heart was screaming 'don't do it'..... I turned around and walked out of Target without looking at or buying anything else.  For the 30-something, mom who loves all things Target- this was shocking to myself, not going to lie!  I turned around and left thinking- this is bizarre but I don't need anything else.  And then, God orchestrated the why for such shocking behavior...I ran into a dear sweet lady from my hometown.  We crossed paths in the parking lot as the wind was blowing and cars went swerving around us.  After the quick- hi, how's Kaleb and a wave, we headed our opposite directions.  Then, she called back to me.  She said "here, I wanted to help you guys out" and handed me a crisp bill of generosity.  What a blessing, what an encouragement.  Ahh, so that's why God told me to just turn around and walk right out of Target.  Its like He plans this stuff or something! :) Go God.

Which brings me to 'the pig'...  This sweet little princess piggy bank joined our family about a month ago.  Kaleb's been scouring the house for weeks now looking for 'monies' to put in the pig.  Sometimes, its even my morning coffee money or what he finds from the bottom of the dryer.  He gets soooo excited to go put his newly found money into the pig for his 'little sister from China'.  This week, we've fattened up that pig quite a bit, the pay-off of discipline at Target, generous friends and Wes' mad skills at selling stuff online.

Thanks so everyone who has signed up for our Slam Dunk for Adoption- March Madness fundraiser!  We're very grateful and appreciative.  I've had someone ask about making donations larger that $10 so I added a new Paypal button on the right hand side bar.  Enter the amount of your choice, if that works better for you.  Again, we're so appreciative!

This past week has been full of progress- physicals are done and we know that the FBI office charged our credit card on Friday.  That means, they've opened the envelope and hopefully are processing it very soon.  Please, please, please pray that we get our FBI background checks soon.

This upcoming week- we'll have our in home visit for our home study on Wednesday.  Then, Renee will be able to write up our home study.  This week we'll especially be praying for:
1.  Our FBI background checks to be returned. 
2. For the home study writing and approval process to go quickly. 

Thank you, thank you to everyone for the love, prayers and support- we're incredibly grateful for the family and friends all around us!